there's no place like gnome.

(Two blog posts in one month?  Please. Don’t fall off your chair. Somehow it’s true.)

It was quite the lovely weekend, blog friends. I hope yours was equally lovely. 

Mine began with a Target run with Pastor Paige.  It’s been f-o-r-e-v-e-r since we’ve been friends who actually see each other.  Next, we went to Carter’s house for supper, crafts, and a movie outside projected on the house. It was pretty spectacular to be with friends doing such fun things. 

On Saturday, Austin hosted its big arts festival which included some sort of attempt to bust a record for bubble blowing.  Dave and I biked downtown to participate, however using ones breath to send the bubble into the air was not necessary because the wind itself did it for you.  It was so super windy!  There were also SPAM samples a la fancy (coconut encrusted SPAM with pineapple chutney? not too shabby.) and local artist displays to admire. 

 I came home Saturday evening to a lovely birth announcement in the mailbox. A birth announcement for the newest addition to my favorite Montana family. Along with the pretty, pretty pictures was an invitation I am beyond honored to accept. So honored.  

 Today – Sunday – was busy, busy. Church at Red Oak Grove with a service of sharing the Detroit trip with the congregation. Off to the local care center to lead worship and drink coffee. Sewing, watching my newest show (the quite enjoyable The Newsroom), and deciding to finally do something about the abundance of tomatoes my garden is producing.  Hello, oven roasted tomato sauce. So excited to try it on pasta tomorrow.  It smells wonderful!

I’ve started a collection on my kitchen counter. Every $5 bill I come across goes in the jar.  That’s the rule. As Dave and I plan our NC roadtrip next month, I campaigned for a stop at Pink Castle Fabrics in Ann Arbor, one of the coolest, most awesome modern quilt shops ever.  (Or so I guess.  This will be my first time there.). Must. save. money. (Campaigning for this stop wasn’t super hard since I’ll be playing pinball for a couple hours in Pittsburgh.  Quilt shop for pinball arcade.  We’re even.)  

Oh, and I should mention that my pinball-playing boyfriend is a serial killer.  According to my mom’s dream (nightmare?) she had, he kills people by strangulation or – wait for it – throwing furniture on them.  I mean, really, makes sense since his family owns a furniture store. Abundance of weapons, you know. 

Ahh.  Good weekend indeed, even if I do need to keep an eye open for flying furniture now. 

It’s time for an update, eh?  An attempt to include nearly all of summer in one blog post. Here we go –

My mom got married. I surprisingly took, like, zero photos of the ordeal. But she got married!  It was grand! I went to Detroit for the national youth gathering and had a pretty great time with 30,000 other Lutherans. (It’s always particularly fun to run into friends!  Lots of friends!) After being gone for those two weeks, I was grateful to come home and stay home for the last couple weeks. 

But being at home doesn’t mean it was without adventures or projects. 

Emma and Molly came to visit. We went to the sculpture garden in Minneapolis and ate on a rooftop in Uptown.  We also had organized craft time and went out for Mexican food.   

I painted this chest coral.  It now resides by my bed.  (And now, of course, I have a new quilt on my brain to tie the bedroom colors all together.)

 I finished a quilt top, started another (or four).  I’m currently smitten with my epp (English paper piecing) project (below), though progress is slow. It will be at least a year in the making. (It’s my work-on-away-from-home project.  No sewing machine required.) I went on a fabric shopping adventure in the cities with Marilyn and her daughter. I bought more fabric. For more projects. Oye.  I have a problem. 

 I entered my hexagon quilt in the Mower County Fair, which was this last week. It was an experiment; I’ve never really entered anything in the fair. The quilt received a third place ribbon, which also means I’ll be getting a check for $2 in the mail.  My mom told me not to spend it all in one place.  

 Speaking of the fair, Mabel has been going to dog obedience classes through 4H with one of my neighbors. Yesterday was the dog show.  For those of you who know Mabel, you know this probably would not end well.  But, actually, she did fairly well!  Alex took home a couple blues in different events, in addition to a reserve champion in showmanship.  

 This summer, I’ve rekindled my love of reading. I seem to go in spurts; I read a lot or not at all. I’ve devoured a number of fiction books this summer and currently am reading The Fellowship of the Ring everyday while I eat breakfast. You know I’m a HUGE Lord of the Rings dork but I’ve never been able to get into the books – until now. I love it. 

Day camp returned to Red Oak Grove this summer for three Wednesday’s. We had a big crowd this year and lots of fun, including a water blob!

 My garden is kicking out produce to keep me full on tomatoes and zucchini. Anxiously awaiting the first butternut squash and sweet potatoes!  

Dave was gone for a week at Sturgis which then kinda meant we were attached at the hip those first few days he was back. Fun included (*cough* checking out a pinball machine for sale in the cities and then) dinner and a movie at a fancy theater, the tractor pull at the fair, and another dinner out in Rochester with gnome beer!  These last weeks of summer will prove to be busy too. Movie plans with Carter and his family in Owatonna, a drive-in movie, and soaking up time outside. A vacation is in the works for the end of September, which will be a nice pause in the busy of fall. (Road trip to NC, baby!)

So there you have it. Summer in a blog post. Of course, that’s not everything.  It’s been a good summer and – like everyone will say – it has flown by!  Now here’s hoping I post again by the end of fall.